Ohio State center Ivan Njegovan announced on Instagram Monday afternoon that he is returning for his sophomore season, giving the Buckeyes another post presence for the 2025-26 season.
“Happy to announce that I am officially back!” Njegovan wrote. “Thanks for the support @thefoundationohio.”
Njegovan, a Otocac, Croatia native, appeared in 21 games off the bench for the Buckeyes in his first collegiate season, averaging 1.6 points and 1.5 rebounds per game while shooting 50.0 percent from the field (13 of 26) and 28.6 percent from three (2 of 7). After joining the program from the Croatian Premier League last July, the 7-1 center got off to a bit of a slow start, totaling 14 points and nine rebounds in his first eight appearances.
But he started to pick it up from the inside and show some development towards the middle of the season in Big Ten play — averaging 2.6 points and 3.2 rebounds in five conference games from Jan. 14-30 — before fizzling out some towards the end of the year and totaling just four points and seven rebounds in his final eight appearances.
Njegovan will look to find more consistency next season as a reserve on a much more veteran-laden frontcourt that as of now consists of mid-major transfers Christoph Tilly (Santa Clara) and Brandon Noel (Wright State), rising forward Devin Royal and incoming freshman forward A’mare Bynum.
Ohio State is likely to add another frontcourt player to the roster due to the late transfer departure of forward Sean Stewart. The program recently hosted Baylor transfer center Josh Ojianwua (6-10, 230, 7.4 points, 6.4 rebounds last year), and they have also been linked to players such as former Florida Atlantic forward Baba Miller (6-11, 215, 11.2 points, 7.0 rebounds per game last season) and former Texas Tech forward Darrion Williams (6-6, 225, 15.1, 5.5).
Williams, a 2024-25 first-team All-Big 12 honoree, is currently going through the NBA draft process and was invited to the NBA draft combine from May 11-18. But while he did enter his name in the draft he also put his name into the transfer portal, allowing him the opportunity to return to college on another team if he is not satisfied with his draft position.
Williams is currently projected to go in the second round of the draft by several outlets.
